2019 Week 4: (January 20-January 26)

This is the week of the Total Lunar Eclipse which will easily be visible from all residents of North and South America.  This, of course, assumes clear skies!  The chart below highlights what else is happening during Eclipse Week!

Date	Event
January 20	Full Moon
January 20/21	Total Lunar Eclipse
January 21	Moon 0.6°S of Beehive
January 21	Moon at Perigee
January 21	Venus 2°N of Jupiter

The Full Moon and the Lunar Eclipse of course coincide as the Moon needs to be on the opposite side of the Earth to be in its shadow.  See Moon Phases below.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-lunar-phases.html

The Calgary times for the eclipse is provided below.

7:36pm - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
8:33pm - Partial Eclipse Starts
9:41pm - Total Eclipse Starts
10:43pm - Total Eclipse Ends
11:50pm - Partial Eclipse Ends
12:48am - Penumbral Eclipse Ends

Further details can be found below.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2018/01/total-lunar-eclipse.html

Total Lunar Eclipse (Image Credit: NASA)

The free astronomy software Cartes du Ciel actually shows the shading of the Moon as the Earth's shadow transits its face.  If you would like to download this software a link has been provided.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/free-astronomy-software-cartes-du-ciel.html

The Beehive Cluster will be under 7° away from the eclipse and binoculars should be able to expose this wonderful grouping of stars.  Look approximately 1 or 2 binocular fields to the east of the Moon during the eclipse.  The map below highlights this close encounter.

Sky Map During Eclipse

As you can notice in the table below the Moon reaches perigee relatively close to the Full Moon.  This is typically what some people refer to as a 'Super Moon'.  Although not scientifically defined or used it has become a colloquial expression to generate interest in astronomy.  The Moon is imperceptibly brighter and larger and may cause higher than normal tides.  The Farmer's Almanac which may have appropriated Full Moon names from specific Great Lakes tribes centuries ago refers to this as a 'Wolf Moon'.  Again, not officially recognized, many Native tribes and cultures throughout North America and the World have different names for Full Moons.  This has lead to the expression 'Super Blood Wolf Moon' as the eclipse makes the Moon appear red.

The appearance of a Moon during an eclipse can be qualitatively defined by the Danjon Scale.  Many factors affect the appearance of the Moon.  The most interesting, in my opinion, is recent volcanic eruptions severely darkening its appearance (1992).  More information can be found below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danjon_scale

If you didn't stay up too late watching the eclipse make sure you get up early to see a beautiful conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.  These two friends will be about 2° apart; close enough to capture in a wide field telescope view.  Watch the southeastern sky shortly after 6:30am in the morning to see this sight.  They have been close friends the previous week and will continue to be throughout this next week.  Catch them closely dancing before Venus tracks too far to the east!

2019 Week 3: (January 13-January 19)

This week in the sky we have the Moon reaching its first quarter phase.  When the Moon is full this month there will be a total lunar eclipse.  Watch out for more details as the night approaches.  The table below provides a summary of this week.

Date	Event
January 13	First Quarter
January 17	Aldebaran 1.6°S of Moon

If you are a Calgarian working on your Messier catalogue this is the perfect time of year to locate some of the most southern objects.  Lepus, Canis Major, and Puppis are all in prime viewing position by 11:30pm-12:00am.  You do not want to miss out on these -20°S declination objects especially since they are fairly bright clusters.

Messier 47

Leo is starting to reach a comfortable region of the sky by midnight with all of its spectacular wonders.  Following Leo is Virgo and the Virgo Cluster which I have yet to wrap my head around in the 3 years I have been doing astronomy.  I will make it a goal to figure out this region of the sky in 2019.

There is only one rocket launch scheduled for this week.  A Japanese Epsilon rocket is a sending a (Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite) into space to test new technology.  A lightweight solar cell mechanism will be tested to see how well it can obtain power.  Along with this satellite several secondary Japanese and Vietnamese payloads will be heading up into space. You can catch this launch live at https://spaceflightnow.com with the time details below.

Date	Event
January 16	Epsilon - RAPIS 1 (19:50)

There will be one public event occurring this week.  Our monthly General Meeting will be held at the Kerby Centre and we will be having two lectures.  The first will be on the legacy of the RASC Sesquicentennial and the many highlights of such a great year.  The second talk will focus on the relationship between outdoor lighting and crime.  A case study on New York's strategy will be discussed.  I hope you can make it out to the event; all members of the public are invited!

2019 Week 2: (January 6-January 12)

We are in the first full week of 2019 and the weather is quite mild.  With clear skies there are a lot of amazing things to see!

Date	Event
January 6	Uranus Stationary
January 10	Neptune 3°N of Moon
January 12	Mars 5°N of Moon

Uranus will complete its retrograde motion and begin moving toward the east against the background stars.  It will soon be within the borders of Aries, moving to its second constellation since I started astronomy back in 2016.

Neptune and Mars will be in tight with the Moon on the 10th and 12th respectively.

Familiar constellations dot the Winter sky.  Orion is high in the sky around 11pm and makes for a beautiful sight.  Place your binoculars on his belt and move them south and you will see the Great Orion Nebula.  At 1334 light years away, this is one of the most active star creating regions in our galaxy.

The Orion Nebula

The Twins known as Gemini follow closely behind Orion.  You can find them by drawing a line from Orion's bright blue knee through his bright red shoulder to a pair of bright stars. 

On a clear night see if you can trace out the Winter Hexagon.  Each vertex is a bright Winter star consisting of (with their brightness rank): 7 - Rigel, 14 - Aldebaran, 6 - Capella, 17 - Pollux, 8 - Procyon, 1 - Sirius.

There is only one rocket launch scheduled for this week.  A Falcon 9 is sending 10 satellites into space to replace the original Iridium constellation that observers love watching.  You can catch this launch live at https://spaceflightnow.com.

Date	Event
January 8	Falcon 9 - Iridium Next 66-75 (08:48)

Spend some time outside in the mild Winter weather and see some fantastic sights!  We sometimes don't get the chance to see some of these because it is so cold and snowy outside!

2019 Week 1: (December 30-January 5)

This will be the first week of the New Year!  The big news starts out on New Year's Day with New Horizons' flyby of the Kuiper Belt Object now known as Ultima Thule. 

Thule in Latin refers to a legendary island that is beyond existence and Ultima is the word for furthest.  This name is quite savvy as Ultima Thule will be the furthest object we have explored.

NASA TV will have full coverage on this groundbreaking flyby.  The link below is a Sky and Telescope article written by New Horizons' Principal Investigator Alan Stern.

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/new-horizons-approaching-ultima-thule/

New Horizons at the Plutonian System (Image Credit: NASA)

There are other great events happening in the sky that we can see in Calgary!  The chart below highlights them.

Date	Event
January 1	Venus 1.3°S of Moon
January 1	Saturn in conjunction with the Sun
January 3	Jupiter 3°S of Moon
January 3	Quadrantid Meteors Peak
January 4	Mercury 3°S of Moon
January 5	New Moon
January 5	Partial Solar Eclipse
January 5	Venus greatest elongation West

There will be a Solar Eclipse occurring on January 5th for those east of the International Date Line and on the 6th for the observers to the west.  A map of the eclipse region is found below.

January 5-6, 2019 Partial Solar Eclipse (Image Credit: https://www.timeanddate.com)

Throughout the week we will have three planetary conjunction with the Moon in the hours prior to sunrise.  Venus will be partying with the Moon early on New Year's morning as both will be found within the same telescopic field of view.  Two days later it will be Jupiter's turn follow by Mercury a day after that.

There is also a major meteor shower peaking on Thursday night.  You can catch the Quadrantids without the horrible glow of a Full Moon of the first week of January last year.  In the suburbs you may be able to catch about 10 per hour but may get lucky!  Look just above the head of Boötes as the radiant and see if you can catch a few!  For more information on viewing and/or recording this shower, follow the link below.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-quadrantid-meteor-shower.html

Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peak

The week ends with a New Moon to start the first lunar cycle of 2019.  The same night Venus will reach its westernmost appearance in the sky away from the Sun at a whopping 47°.  It will be in a last quarter phase with only 50% of the planet illuminated.  This will be a great time to catch it in a telescope.

Get outside and observe the Winter constellations in the spells of great weather!

2018 Week 52: (December 23-December 29)

We are nearly at the end of 2018.  What a great year we have been having!  Will 2019 top this past year?  You'll have to stay tuned to find out!  The table below highlights what is happening throughout the upcoming week.

Date	Event
December 24	Moon 0.6°S of Beehive (M44)
December 29	Last Quarter

Comet 46P/Wirtanen is high in our Northern Hemisphere sky this week.  It starts off right next to Capella, the brightest star in Auriga. It ends it week in the lesser known constellation of Lynx.

Mars still sits bright and red directly south as it just recently crossed the border into Pisces.

On Christmas Eve the waning gibbous Moon will be within the same telescopic field as the Beehive Cluster.  This cluster is also known as Praesepe which is Latin for 'Manger'.  This is a perfect conjunction for this date!  Unfortunately I do not yet have a great picture of the Beehive but I hope to fix that in 2020!

Beehive Cluster - Praesepe (Manger)

This event will occur in the eastern sky with their closest approach being 10pm.  A map of this region can be found below to help you find it.  Just follow the line between the twin stars of Gemini towards the Moon and look through binoculars!

Moon/Manger Christmas Conjunction in the East

Just prior to the end of the year the Moon will be at its Last Quarter phase on its way to becoming a New Moon.  This New Moon will be quite special as it will cause a Partial Solar eclipse in some of the most populated areas in the world.  Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei will all have a glimpse of the Moon covering our very own home star!

We had a couple great nights of public star nights!  Unfortunately clouds rolled in but the Moon was still somewhat visible.  Public star nights are always a gamble as the weather is perhaps the largest casino in the world.  We are looking at having some basic telescope nights early in the new year with some scopes setup at dark locations throughout several communities.  This will be an outdoor event only dependent on the weather.  Thank-you to the amazing volunteers who helped put on these events and to the facilities who graciously let us use their space.

Public star night volunteers after their last shift

There is only one rocket launch scheduled for this week.  The Russian Government is sending observation satellites into orbit to help map forest fires.  You can catch this launch live at https://spaceflightnow.com just after 7pm on Boxing Day.

Date	Event
December 26	Soyuz - Kanopus-V 5&6 (19:07)

There are no public events planned for a couple weeks.  However, you can mark your calendars for January 10 when the Telus Spark will be hosting an Adult Night entitled 'Embrace Outer Space'.  A link to this event can be found below.

http://sparkscience.ca/experience-telus-spark/events/embrace-outer-space

Also, look out for a great event at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory on January 20.  There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse that evening which is being called a 'Super Blood Wolf Moon'.

Follow us on Facebook for details of upcoming events!

2018 Week 51: (December 16-December 22)

This week will have the Winter Solstice marking the first day of winter.  However, before this occurs mark your calendar for the last astronomical event of the Fall!

There will be a great free event at the Calgary Public Library.  A lecture entitled: The Christmas Star, An Astronomer's Perspective will be given on December 20, 2018 starting at 7pm.  A link to this event is given below.  Don't miss out!

The Christmas Star, An Astronomer's Perspective

The chart below highlights all the events happening in our cool late autumn skies!

Date	Event
December 21	Aldebaran 1.7°S of Moon
December 21	Mercury 0.9°S of Jupiter
December 21	Winter Solstice
December 22	Full Moon
December 22	Ursid Meteor Shower Peak

There are a few conjunctions occurring throughout the week if you are lucky to catch them.  The bright red star of Taurus will be in conjunction with the Moon early Friday morning.  You will be able to put both inside the same field of a telescope with the right eyepiece.  A couple years ago I had the opportunity to see the Moon occult Aldebaran.  Unfortunately that will not be the case this December.

If you wait just before the Sun comes up that same morning you might be able to catch our smallest and largest planet hanging out with each other.  Mercury and Jupiter will be under a degree from each other.  You may need some optical aid to lure them out of the morning twilight.  DO NOT use optical aid when the Sun is above the horizon as you will damage your eyes if you catch our star in your field of view.

The Moon will be Full the next night and cause a great deal of light pollution wiping out faint objects.  This brings us to the Ursid Meteor Shower which will likely be mostly destroyed by the Moon.  The American Meteor Society estimates an hourly rate of 1 meteor per hour during a Full Moon.  Will you catch this 1?  The radiant sits just above the scoop of the Little Dipper asterism in Ursa Minor.

Ursid Radiant

What else is there worth watching for in the sky?  Comet 46P/Wirtanen is coming further north and will be playing around in the constellation Auriga.  A link to the finder charts can be found below.  I will update it for the last week of December soon.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen Finder Charts

Mars is still in our nighttime sky in the northeastern reaches on Aquarius before it moves into Pisces by the end of the week.  In February it will have a very close conjunction with Uranus at less than a degree away.  This will make for a great picture if the sky is clear!

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the Earth the rockets were launching!  There are five launches scheduled for this upcoming week.

Date	Event
December 18	Falcon 9 - GPS 3-01 (07:11)
December 18	Soyuz - CSO 1 (09:37)
December 18	Delta IV Heavy - NROL-71 (18:57)
December 19	GSLV Mk.2 (03:30)
December 20	Proton - Blagovest No. 13L (17:15)

The most interesting launch will be the Delta IV Heavy that was stopped on December 7 with a mere seven seconds left in the countdown.  That same morning a Falcon 9 will be lifting off with a GPS satellite and a Soyuz will be taking a French optical imaging satellite into space.

The next day a GSLV Mk.2 will be lifting off from India carrying a communications satellite for the Indian Air Force.  On December 20 a Russian Proton rocket will also put a communications satellite into space to provide high-speed internet, television and much more to a domestic and military audience.

All is not quiet on the public events calendar either!  After the event at the library there will be two community star nights for anyone to check out.  Click on the links in the chart below for more details!

Date	Event
December 20	The Christmas Star, An Astronomer's Perspective (7-9pm)
December 21	Cranston Star Night (6:30-8:30pm)
December 22	McKenzie Lake Star Night (6:30-8:30pm)

We hope to see you out this week!

Geminids 2018

This year the Geminids were fantastic!  The peak of the shower was scheduled for the early morning of Friday, December 14.  I was up from 11pm-12:30am on Thursday night to Friday morning.  I counted 18 separate meteors during this time including a small green bolide that split into 3 additional meteors.

I used an all-sky map to record the observations of the meteors.  This is shown below.

Geminids 2018 - Observation Map

If you look at the observation record you can see that 94% of all recorded meteors radiated from a point just north of Beta Geminorum (Castor).  Just one of the observed meteors was recorded to move in the opposite direction towards the typical Geminid radiant (shown below).

Geminid Radiant

I set myself up in an Adirondack chair in my backyard wearing warm winter attire with my clipboard, red flashlight and watch.  There were narrow cloud bands running west to east travelling through the region of Gemini.  They came and went throughout the entire hour and a half I was outside.  Sometimes the clouds fully encompassed Gemini, Orion, Taurus, or Auriga.  This may have contributed to a lower count throughout the evening.  I complained about this shortly into the evening.

The meteors started off quite slowly and my eyes began to wander to other sights in the sky.

The shower picked up just after midnight with nearly 2/3 of all observed meteors occurring in the last half hour I was out.  More clouds started to roll in and work the next day allowed my bed to beckon to me.

My eyes settled on a sweet spot in the sky between Betelgeuse and Castor's foot (of M35 fame).  This was basically the center of the Winter Hexagon which is becoming more prominent in our cold skies (shown below).  The house blocked a lot of my northern skies but I wasn't too concerned as there was a lot of action in the south.

It was a fun and relaxing evening. The temperature was 3°C and the wind was quite gentle.  I could not really expect better conditions at this time of year.  I am looking forward to the Quadrantid Meteor Shower next month as it occurs a mere 2 days before the New Moon.  If the weather is good I will be out again!